Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Basic Human Needs
We are social creatures in need of love community and family. But the other two basic needs for achievement and power, define the essence of the manufacturing and military contradiction. Achievements lead to economic growth mainly through new manufacturing, while Power is the essence of the international political arena of military spending. Achievement relates to economic growth just as Power relates to politics and control. Empire, while usually thought of in geographic terms, in peace economics terms is best defined and measured by high levels of military spending relative to the size of a national economy. An empire society will have dominant levels of military spending compared to others. Just as achievement leads to creativity and growth, power leads to limitation and control. Control is important to guide things but is not a part of creativity and economic growth
Control Is the Essence of Empire
National Security is the argument for empire conventionally speaking. But it's really all about controlling the environment the country is in. Bigger dominant and sprawling are all attractions that drive that control impulse. Power is the goal while control is the mechanism. Individual glory for a national leader is a great historical driver of many wars and expansions. Control puts law and order restrictions front and center. Control means more lawyers and red tape than low military Europe or Japan have. Lawyers for control, Engineers for economic growth and inventions. Lots of lawyers in the empire control-oriented society, the Romans are famous for the development of law. Lots of engineers in the high growth societies. Yankee ingenuity.
Domestic Consequences of Control
Politics and crime are the leading areas directly affected by empire militarism. Yet several bad health statistics also correlate strongly with empire. Teen Births, Mental Illness, and Obesity each correlate a robust 0.8 rounded to the nearest tenth. Homicides and Prisoners likewise correlate a robust 0.8 rounded to the nearest tenth or better. On the economic front, military spending correlates over 0.9 with a lack of social mobility and high manufacturing CEO pay. Income inequality also correlates about 0.8 with military spending (empire), about the same as low press freedom media (using Reporters without Borders data). Empire weakens the economy, making a society unequal, crime ridden, and unhealthy compared to other advanced economies. Many people will die due to crime rising, the limited economics, dehumanization (of enemies and crime victims), and kill training of troops. More people will be murdered domestically during peacetime than die during wars. Murder is one way to destroy domestic peace. The peace economics imperative to increase prosperity and reduce murders will also reduce wars. This will do more for peace than an African peace deal or media against tyrants. Recognition of the two hard science theories in my work will make this kind of social progress inevitable.
Limits of Politics
In the seventy-eight years since the end of World War II the USA politics has evolved like the Roman Empire did, in this way: America is evolving from democracy towards dictatorship just as the Roman Empire evolved out of the Roman Republic. Eisenhower was shocked to witness the scramble for military dollars, warning about the military industrial complex achieving undue influence over America. Dehumanization has flourished over time and exploded under Trump. The confederacy, the South, has flipped from Democratic to Republican. Over time moderates have lost out to the Southern extremists with the rise of the Tea Party in 2010. Polarization has grown stronger and stronger as the extreme party has treated Democrats as enemies, a process that duplicates what happens in wartime. The Roman Empire had many civil wars under the emperor system, which started with Augustus in 27 BC.
Crime
Many people will die due to crime rising, limited economics, dehumanization (of enemies and crime victims), and kill training of troops. Militarism leads to crime in the deviant 2%. In recent decades crime has evolved slowly, changing with changes in the military budget with about a six-year delay (child development into an at-risk status takes time, although teachers can recognize the problem kids right away). At one time kids saw 18,000 murders on TV by the time they grew up. The doubling of gun deaths since 2015 is anomalous to this gradual pattern, suggesting Trump rhetoric and encouragement to treat others violently throughout his career has born fruit, with some help from the pandemic. Trump tactics and Covid isolation and fear have contributed to the quadrupling of domestic terrorism in the last few years.
Militarism Control Empire Social Decay:
https://www.academia.edu/11421799/MILITARISM_CONTROL_Empire_Social_Decay_WWW_97_6p
Please cite this work as follows: Reuschlein, Robert. (2023, January 31), "Power, Control, and Empire" Madison, WI, Real Economy Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Power,-Control,-and-Empire,2023291000.aspx
Dr. Peace, Professor Robert Reuschlein, Real Economy Institute, Nobel Peace Prize nominee 2016-2023 with accelerating interest from the deciding Norwegians. A consistently growing pattern shows intense interest in my work on my expertclick.com website; daily "hard looks" per year went from 2 to 3 to 48 to 128 to 200 to 322 to 346 by the October 7th, 2022 Nobel Peace Prize announcement time.
Contact: bobreuschlein@gmail.com
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